"This judgement refers to a historic optional booking model which is not used by Deliveroo in Italy or other markets,” the spokesperson wrote. In a statement to Motherboard, a Deliveroo spokesperson claimed that the company no longer uses the same shift booking system outlined in the case. I think that’s important, because people can often think of algorithms as objectively neutral, when in fact there’s always the possibility of discrimination involved.” “What it shows, basically, is that on a legal level you can have indirect discrimination through algorithims and that algorithms are therefore subject to judicial review, that you can legally question how these types of algorithms work. “This is a landmark case,” Valerio De Stefano, a professor in labor law at KU Leuven who specializes in AI and labor regulation, told Motherboard over the phone. Importantly, they said, the court determined that even if an algorithm unintentionally discriminates against a protected group a company can still be held liable and be forced to pay damages. Legal experts that Motherboard spoke to described the decision as a possible turning point. Deliveroo was ordered to pay €50,000 (~$61,400) to the suing parties. Since riders deemed more reliable by the algorithm were first to be offered shifts in busier timeblocks, this effectively meant that riders who can’t make their shifts-even if it’s because of a serious emergency or illness-would have fewer job opportunities in the future.Īccording to the court, the algorithm’s failure to take into account the reasons behind a cancellation amounts to discrimation and unjustly penalizes riders with legally legitimate reasons for not working. According to the ordinance, if a rider failed to cancel a shift pre-booked through the app at least 24 hours before its start, their “reliability index” would be negatively affected. While machine-learning algorithms are central to Deliveroo’s entire business model, the particular algorithm examined by the court allegedly was used to determine the “reliability” of a rider. The case was brought by a group of Deliveroo riders backed by CGIL, Italy’s largest trade union.Ī markedly detailed ordinance written by presiding judge Chiara Zompi gives an intimate look at one of many often secretive algorithms used by gig platforms to micromanage workers and which can have profound impacts on their livelihoods. An algorithm used by the popular European food delivery app Deliveroo to rank and offer shifts to riders is discriminatory, an Italian court ruled late last week, in what some experts are calling a historic decision for the gig economy.
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